Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Isaac trumps Pete

Isaac Newton (pictured) produced three Laws of Motion. The third one’s: ‘For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction’ [1]. Or, loosely rephrased, actions have consequences. Farmdoc’s Blog readers know that Pete Seeger’s top of my heroes list – my hero-of-heroes [2]. Pete’s had a long association with Israel. In 1951, when Israel was three years old. with the Weavers he recorded ‘Tsena Tsena’ in Hebrew [3]. He first visited Israel in the 1960s. And so on. Now 91 years old, Pete’s been a lifelong traditional leftie. Good on him. ynetnews.com reports [4] that on 14 November he’ll participate in a virtual rally [5] to support the Arava Institute whose students include Israelis and Palestinians. Good on him again. But ynetnews also says Pete supports the boycott of Israeli products. How such a boycott can help bring Middle East peace when Israel’s enemies talk openly of destroying her and continue incitement to this end, escapes me. Peace will only come if Israel’s strong. A weakened Israel can’t, and won’t, contemplate peace. Pete, like everyone else, is entitled to his views. And to state them publicly. I’m leaving Pete on my heroes list – because I continue to admire his ‘old left’ naïve stance in the face of overwhelming evidence that it’s doomed to fail. But, invoking Newton’s third Law, I’m demoting him down the list. Pity.

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I am 64 years old, a sheep and goat farmer, and a consultant physician. Farmdoc's Blog is a reflective narrative of my past life; my present life as a farmer, doctor, relative and friend; and my life as a citizen of Mole Creek, Tasmania, Australia and Planet Earth.